Angry words between Iowa AFSCME head, Republican lawmaker

The battle between Iowa’s largest public employees’ union and state Republican elected officials is showing no signs of a truce at the Iowa Statehouse.

The latest chapter in the war of words occurred Tuesday when Danny Homan, president Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, fired off an angry letter to state Sen. Mark Chelgren, an Ottumwa Republican, accusing him of demeaning Iowa’s public employees and seeking an apology.

Chelgren responded with a heated letter of his own, accusing Homan of defaming him and demanding a retraction and an apology.

Homan said he had been informed that earlier Tuesday, in a conversation with an AFSCME employee, that Chelgren used “highly abusive, inappropriate, and demeaning language to describe Iowa’s public employees.

“Your words come one day after a deputy was killed in the line of duty. I am sure that this deputy’s family, friends, co-workers, and the public did not think of him as “slimy.”

Homan said that not only did Chelgren show an incredible amount of disrespect to thousands who have chosen public service as a career, but his language was insulting and “over the top” and clearly showed that he didn’t respect their work.

“I understand that many others overheard your rant and my representative is fully justified in calling your actions and words rude. I am demanding that you issue a full apology to Iowa’s public service workers, who also would find your words and actions appalling,” Homan concluded.

Chelgren sent a bluntly worded letter of reply to Homan, saying that the AFSCME president had made allegations about the conversation he had with the union’s lobbyists that are “completely and utterly untrue.”

“You are correct that I used the word ―slimy, but at no point did I use the word to denigrate government workers as you accuse me of doing,” Chelgren said. “When I used the word, I used it to describe the cloistered and lopsided deal the former Governor made in the waning days of his administration. This deal was ―negotiated with your organization behind closed doors after Governor Culver had already lost the election—an election, incidentally, in which your AFSCME Council alone donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the former Governor and the Iowa Democratic Party. I stand by my description of that deal as slimy, and I believe the taxpayers are behind me.”

Chelgren also said that Homan’s “politicitization” of the death of the Keokuk County sheriff’s deputy is “deplorable and shows a disrespect for his sacrifice that far outstrips the insult you wrongly accuse me of making.”

“Common decency demands that you and your organization issue a full retraction and apology for usurping the Deputy’s tragic, heroic, and non-political death for political gain.

“I look forward to your retraction and apology regarding this matter in order to clear my good name,” Chelgren wrote.

AFSCME President Homan subsequently issued a statement late this morning standing by his account of the incident. He also accused Chelgren of trying to politicize the incident – the same charge the Republican lawmaker made about Homan’s letter.